Key-controlled combination lock



May 21, 1968 HERMANN 3,383,886

KEY-CONTROLLED COMBINATION LOCK Filed April 21, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR.

ROBERT HERM/J/VN BY Hi-F y 1968 R. HERMANN 3,383,886

8 I KEY-CONTROLLED COMBINATION LOCK Filed April 21, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheetz N VE N TOR. ROBE)? 7' HE EMA/V N MTV/j 8 United States Patent3,383,886 KEY-CONTROLLED COMBINATION LOCK Robert Hermann, Stronghurst,Ill. 61480 Filed Apr. 21, 1967, Ser. No. 632,713 2 Claims. (Cl. 70-284)ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A combination lock having an operating keywhich is turned after the combination is dialed thereby opening a gatein the lock mechanism which allows a further turning of the dial toactuate the bolt of the lock. The operating key fits into a core whichis changeable without dismantling the lock.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention In the prior artcombination locks having key lock cylinders on them only locked the dialso that it could not be rotated and did not form an integral part of themechanism of the combination lock. This resulted in having the key serveno function in connection with the mechanism of the combination portionof the lock, which it does in this invention. Furthermore, without theremovable feature of the key-controlled portion of the lock, the lockcould not be partially dismantled for the easy changing of the core ofthe key section of the lock.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The key-controlled combination lock has aremovable core making it possible to change the key to 'be used inconnection with the look without having to dismantle the lock in itsentirety.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide akey-controlled combination lock which has a removable core in the keysection of the lock, thus making it possible to change the operating keywithout having to dismantle the lock.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a key-controlledcombination lock with a key mechanism that functions to open a gateafter the combination is dialed so that the bolt of the combinationmechanism may be actuated by a further turning of the dial.

It is a further object of this invention to provide meshing gearsbetween the key portion of the lock and the combination portion of thelock so that the lock may be easily dismantled, if necessary.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a key-controlledcombination lock in which the key may not be removed from the lock untilthe bolt of the combination portion of the lock has been put in thelocked position.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a key-controlledcombination lock whereby two persons may be required in order to openthe lock, one in knowing the combination, and the other possessing theoperating key.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a key-controlledcombination lock having a control key making it impossible for the lockto be dismantled with- 3,383,886 Patented May 21, 1968 out the controlkey, thus preventing unauthorized persons from changing the keying ofthe key portion of the lock.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become moreapparent from the following drawings, descriptions and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is an oblique view of the lockshowing the dial partially numbered.

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the cylinder showing the inner gearsconnecting the cylinder and the slide cam.

FIGURE 3 is an oblique view of the core removed from the cylinder of thekey portion of the lock.

FIGURE 4 is a view of the back of the cylinder showing the inner gearsin mesh with each other.

FIGURE 5 is a view of the back of the combination portion of the lockwith the cover removed.

FIGURE 6 is a half-sectional view of the combination portion of the locktaken on line AA of FIGURE 5 and a half-section of the key portion ofthe lock that corresponds thereto.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The key-controlled combinationlock is comprised of a dial 1 having as a knob thereon a crush-proofring 2 and a spacer 3 which separates the crush-proof ring 2 from acylinder 4 of a key lock mechanism. The cylinder 4 has located therein acore 5. A plug 6 is located in the core 5. A key is inserted in the slot8 in the plug 6, The key may be either a master key, an operating key ora control key. If it is a control key 7A, the turning of the control key7A a short distance serves to retract the control lever 9 into the core5, and the core 5 can thus be slipped out of the opening 10 in thecylinder 4 as shown in FIGURE 3.

When the proper operating key 7 is placed in the slot 8 as shown inFIGURE 6, the operating key 7 turns because the pins 12 are lined upwith the operating shearline 13. There is also a control key shear line13A. The pins 12 are under tension of springs 12A. The rods 14, whichare connected to the circular piece 15 and the cam 16, cause the cam 16and in turn the inner gear 17 to turn. The rods 14 protrude throughholes (unshown) in the circular piece 15 and are fastened into the cam16. The inner gear 17 is an integral part of the cam 16. The inner gear18 meshes with the inner gear 17 and has as an integral part of it a lip19 into which is fastened a shaft 20. A spindle 21 is press-fit into thedial 1 so as to rotate when the dial 1 is rotated. The lip 19 isrotatable in the spindle 21 so as to allow the shaft 20 to rotateindependently of the spindle 21. The cylinder 4 screws into the dial 1.A back plate 21A is riveted onto the back of the plug 6.

The spindle 21 has screwed thereon a driver wheel 22, which has locatedtherein a slide 23. The slide 23 has located thereon a stop pin 24 andslides in the slots 25 in the driver wheel 22. A driver pin 26 contactsthe protrusion 27 of a fly 28. The fly 28 is held in position in back ofthe wheel 29 by a clip 30 and a washer 31. Each of the other two wheels32 have flies 33 similarly held in position by washers 31. A tensionwasher 34 separates the innermost wheel 32 from the casing 35. Thetension washer 34, the flies 23 and 33 and the washers 31 are held inplace on a tube 36 by means of a spline 36A in the tube 36. The casingis held by screws 35A onto the partition 11, and the dial plate 37 isheld onto the partition 11 by screws 37A. Further holes 373 in the dialplate allow more sturdy fastening of the dial plate 37 to the partition11. A nut 47 holds the tube 36 in position. The cover 38 is held ontothe back of the casing 35 by screws (unshown). A slide cam 39 isfastened onto the shaft 2t) by a screw 4%. A key 41 is connection with akeyway (unshown) in the spindle 21 holds the driver wheel 22 in place inrelation to the spindle 21. A gate 42 in the driver wheel 22 and notches43 in the Wheels 29 and 32 accommodate the fence lever 44 when thecombination is properly dialed and the key 7 is turned opening the gate42. Stops 45 on the cover 38 in connection with the stop pin 24 preventthe driver wheel 22 from turning when the lock is unlocked.

The key-controlled combination lock is disassembled from the positionshown in FIGURE 6 by removing the core from the cylinder 4 by the use ofa control key 7A. A set screw 46 is then unscrewed, and the cylinder 1may then be unscrewed from the dial 1. As this is done, the spacer 3 andthe crush-proof ring 2 may be removed from the dial 1. The gears 17 and18 unmesh laterally. The cover 38 is then taken off the casing of thecombination portion of the lock, and the screw 40 is unscrewed to allowthe slide cam 39 to be removed from the shaft 20. The key 41 is thenremoved from the keyway (unshown) in the spindle 21, and the driverwheel 22 can then be unscrewed from the spindle 21. With the driverWheel 22 off the spindle 21 the dial 1 and the spindle 21 may be removedfrom the partition 11. This leaves then only the combination portion ofthe lock so held in place by the nut 47 on the tube 36. It is notnecessary to so disassemble the lock except for replacement of parts.

With the lock fully assembled, turning the dial 1 to three propernumbers will line up the notches 43. By then turning the operating key7, the gear 17 will turn the gear 18, the shaft 26 and the slide cam 39.The slide cam 39 strikes the irregular opening 23A in the slide 23,

which thus moves the slide 23 into the position shown in FIGURE 5. Thisopens the gate 42. The fence lever 44 is then forced into the gate 42and the notches 43 by the spring 48. By further turning the dial 1, thedriver Wheel 22 turns, and the gate 42 in the driver Wheel 22 opens thelock by pulling the bolt 49 inward into the casing 35.

The operating key 7 may be changed by inserting the control key 7A asshown in FIGURE 3 and removing the core 5. Thus new cores 5 mayinterchangeably be put into the cylinder 4, each core 5 having adifferent operating key 7. This type of change does not require alocksmith, but can be handled by any unskilled personnel who have accessto the various cores 5. Of course, each operating key 7 must go with aparticular core 5. The way a locksmith would change the operating keys 7to be used in a given core 5 is by removing the stops 50 in the top ofthe cores and reloading each core 5 with different pins 12. The pins 12are in three sections to accommodate a control key 7A with the controlshear line 13A, a master key (unshown) and an operating key 7.

I claim:

1. A key-controlled combination lock comprised of a key mechanism and acombination mechanism, the key mechanism and the combination mechanismconnected by meshing gears, the key mechanism being operable after theproper combination is dialed on the combination mechanism to allow theopening of the lock by the further turning of the combination mechanism,the key mechanism having a cylinder which receives a core, the corebeing removable from the cylinder by means of a control key, one of thegears being on the cylinder, the combination mechanism having a driverwheel containing a slide and a slide cam, the slide cam connected to thesecond gear so that turning an operating key in the core turns the slidecam, the slide cam positioned so as to open a gate in the driver wheelwhen the operating key is turned, a fence lever positioned so as to moveinto the gate when the proper combination is dialed and the operatingkey is turned, a bolt that is moved by the fence lever when the dial isturned further after the proper combination is dialed and the operatingkey is turned.

2. The key-controlled combination lock of claim 1, the cylinder beingpart of the dialing knob of the combination mechanism and beingprotected by a crush-proof ring, the cylinder being removable from thedialing knob of the combination mechanism.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1952 Berry et al. -284 5/1966Rigo et al 235101

